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Parliament overrides two bills vetoed by Kiska

TWO bills – on restricting the participation of mailbox companies in public procurements and one addressing agency employment – will become effective as of March even without President Andrej Kiska’s signature.

Kiska refused to sign them so that they can become valid, but on February 4, parliament approved the two bills again, thus effectively overruling the his vetoes.

The bill whereby businesses with non-transparent mailbox firms should not be involved in procurements was okayed by the Smer-dominated parliament again, with only its date of effectiveness postponed to March. In rejecting this bill, Kiska argued that such initiatives must be effective and be in accordance with the Constitution, as well as with international agreements and EU legislation. The amendment does not meet these criteria, according to the president.

“It won’t prevent firms with an opaque ownership structure from winning tenders, as it only requires that the formal owners of such companies be revealed,” reads Kiska’s statement, as quoted by the TASR newswire.

The other bill – an amendment to the Labour Code which introduces the principle of joint responsibility for equalising the terms of employment between agencies and the companies that hire staff from them – was also approved in its original wording and the law will also come into effect as of March. The law includes the same salary and conditions for employees hired from agencies as for permanent staff if the people concerned carry out the same or very similar work.

The president refused to sign the bill due to objections presented by representatives of employers. Kiska stressed that several objections were known to MPs during the legislative process, consequently reaching the conclusion that the assessment of the impacts of the legislation on employment and the creation of new jobs was not adequate.